Pruning shears



June 19, 1934. J. SMITH ET AL PRUNING SHEARS Filed Sept.

I [x 1 I I I, U M n? I I I INVENTORS Justin L.8mith.

. Harold H.8mi1h. BY THEIR ATTORNEY 7 Justin L. Smith an Conn., assignors E S ATES- PATENT oFFicE j PRUNING saunas a Harold H. Smith, Watertown, to Seymour Smith & Son, Inc.,

Watertown, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut 7 Application September 30, 1931, Serial No. 565,978

' 1 Claim. (c ao- 4 1) This invention relates to agricultural implements, and more particularly to a pruning shears having an improved form of finger guard attached to one of the handles thereof.

One object of the invention is device of the above nature which to, provide a will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to assemble and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eflicient and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing, one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of the pruning shears, showing the cutting jaws in partly open position.

Fig. 2 is a detached perspective the finger guardJ detail view of Fig. 3 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the movable jaw, along the line tion of the arrows, and showing th attached thereto.

the section being taken 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direce finger guard Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the pruning shears similar to Fig. 1 showing the stationary jaw in longitudinal section.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view end of the pruning shears.

Fig. 6

of the cutting is a detail perspective View of the soft anvil plate, shown detached from the stationary jaw.

Fig. '7 is a detail perspective view block of the cutting blade, position.

Referring now to the drawing reference numerals denote corresponding.

of the anchor shown in detached in which like parts throughout the several views, the numerals 10 and 11 indicate the movable and stationary jaws respectively, each of said jaws l0 and erably formed into U-shaped stamping from a sheet metal blank.

11 being prefcross-section by The jaws l0 and 11 are adapted to be normally held in open position by an elongated leaf-spring 12 attached within the bent-up side cutting jaw 11, as by a rivet of the movable jaw 10 walls of the stationary The forward end is pivotally connected Within the bent-up side walls of the stationary jaw 11 y jaw member has a pair of parallel side walls 15 provided with straight inner edges 16, against which the flanges anvil plate 1'? are adapted to rest.

16a of a soft metal The side walls l0 and held therein by 15 have inwardly offset sections 18 held in flat contact by means of a rivet 19, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 5 The anvil plate 17 has a central fin 20 which is adapted to beheld between the walls 15 of the stationary jaw 11 by means of a detachable screw stud 21 passing through said walls and fin. The fin 20 is provided at its rear end with a concave recess 22 shaped to clear the offset sections 18 (see Figs. 4 and 6).

The lower face of the anvil plate 17 is adapted to be engaged by the sharp edge 23 of a cutting blade 24 which is loosely fitted between the parallel forward side Walls of the movable jaw means of the pivot screw 14. In order to prevent the cutting blade from rotating with respect to the pivot screw 14, the rear end of said blade 24 is provided with a projecting nose 25 which is adapted to be tightly fitted within a V-shaped slot 26 in the forward edge of an anchor block 27 located between the side walls of the movable jaw 10. The anchor block 2'7 is adapted to be rigidly held in position by a pair of rivets 28 and 29.

In order to increase the mechanical efficiency of the leaf-spring 12, the rear extremity of the blade 24 is'provided with a stepped shoulder 30, the outer surface of which is of elongated construction to provide a bearing for the end of the leaf-spring 12. It will be obvious from this construction that the free end of the leaf-spring 12 may be moved further back from the fulcrum of the jaws l0 and 11, and the mechanical advantage of said spring will be thereby enhanced.

In order to lock the jaws of the pruning shears in closed position when not in use, a wire loop 31 is pivotally attached by a pair of apertures 32 pierced in the side walls of the'handle member 10 (see Fig. l). The. wire loop 31 is adapted to engage a bent-over hook member 33 located within the U-shaped jaw 11 and formed integral with the rear end of the leaf-spring 12. By means of this construction, when it is desired to use the pruning shears, the wire loop 31 will be disengaged from the hook member 33 and snapped into a pair of opposed notched recesses 34 formed in the rear lower edge of the movable jaw 10.

To prevent the operators fingers from slipping too far forwardly on the handle of the movable jaw 10, and thus holding his entire hand in the most efiicient operating position, said jaw 10 is provided adjacent its front end with a U-shaped curved finger guard 35. As most clearly shown in Fig. 2, the finger guard 35 is preferably stamped from sheet metal into the form of a U-shaped clip having a smooth convex finger-engaging surface 36. The rear edge of said surface is slightly concave. The side walls of the finger guard are provided with a pair of parallel fiat ears 3'7 and 38 having inclined edges 39 which are adapted to be slipped over the handle member 10 and riveted thereto, as by a pair of rivets 40 and 41.

In use, it is obvious that the finger guard 35 will serve to hold the operators hand in the proper position on the handles of the jaws to gain the full mechanical advantage of the pruning shears.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosure but may be modified and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the

invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claim.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

In a pruning shears, a pair of pivotally connected shear members, one of said members carrying a knife blade, the other member carrying a soft metal anvil for cooperating with said knife blade to sever objects to be pruned, said anvil-carrying shear member having a pair of opposed reduced forward jaws, said jaws being offset at their rear sections into contact with each other, means for securing said offset sections together, said anvil having an arcuate rece'ss embracing said offset sections, and means passing through the forward portions of said jaws to cletachably hold said anvil therebetween.

JUSTIN L. SMITH. HAROLD H. SMITH. 

